1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oligonucleotide primer set for amplifying at least one target sequence of genomic RNA of norovirus, an oligonucleotide probe or probe set specifically hybridizing with at least one target sequence of the genomic RNA of norovirus, a microarray immobilized with the probe or probe set, and a method of detecting norovirus using the probe or probe set.
2. Description of the Related Art
Noroviruses are commonly known as causative viruses of viral food poisoning. Noroviruses are members of the human Caliciviridae family, and contain single-stranded RNA genomes with the sequence of about 7,000 nucleotides. Noroviruses are also called Small Round Structured Viruses (SRSVs).
It is estimated that about 20% of food poisoning cases is caused by viruses. Noroviruses are detected in about 80% of viral food poisoning cases. The main infection source is food, and norovirus infection associated with raw oyster consumption frequently becomes an issue. Noroviruses have also been detected in (sporadic) acute gastroenteritis among infants, and the possibility of person-to-person transmission of noroviruses has been suggested. Thus, testing for noroviruses is an important issue in terms of public health and food quality control. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a highly sensitive and rapid testing method capable of detecting all or most subtypes using a gene amplification process.
U.S. Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005/0170338 discloses a probe capable of binding with the genomic RNA of norovirus, and a primer capable of amplifying a specific sequence of the genomic RNA of norovirus. U.S. Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005/0048475 discloses a primer capable of amplifying a specific sequence of the genomic RNA of norovirus to detect norovirus.
In spite of the above-described conventional techniques, no primer set capable of amplifying at least one target sequence selected from an intergenic region between ORF1 and ORF2 (capsid coding region) and an intergenic region between ORF2 and ORF3 in norovirus is disclosed. No probe specific to the at least one target sequence is also disclosed.